Bedtime Stories & Coop Roadblocks

I purchased a few books and searched for some books at our local library about building chicken coops.  Unfortunately, they weren't what I imagined.  I've searched the Internet endlessly and the Community Cluckers blog.  I have some ideas and great pictures, but nothing concrete with regards to actual plans.  I'm no carpenter, but thankfully Derek has a lot of aptitude when it comes to building and constructing.  Unfortunately, neither of us can put something together without some basic instructions.

I was inspired by one blog where a guy made a really cool looking coop from Ikea items, but there's no Ikea even remotely close to us and the supplies he used were really pricey.  I have a twin size futon frame that has taken up residence in the basement after my college days.  Maybe there's some potential with that piece to be re-purposed.  We have quite a bit of leftover chicken wire from garden fence projects.  More than anything we want to construct a coop on the cheap with whatever we have lying around.  I've ordered another book from the "Dummies" series called Building Chicken Coops for Dummies and Chicken Coops: 45 Building Plans for Housing Your Flock to see if it can get us on track with a design plan or a least give us a better idea of what we'd like for a coop.  I think a chicken tractor would be great.  I like the idea that we could move the chickens around our yard taking advantage of the shade from the pine trees in the summertime or have them closer to the house during those cold, northeastern winter months.  Did I mention that we've had a lot of snow?  "A lot" is an understatement this year!  I also really dig Community Clucker Rebecca Nickols' living roof on her coop.  I make living wreaths, so I have a wealth of sedums in and around and just about everywhere in the garden and lots of good friends always willing to share their sedum bounty.  I am definitely working a living roof into the plans!

On the upside, bedtime stories with the girls have been all about roosters and chickens.  Ara's favorite read was a great find at our local library's book sale.  It's called The Little Tiny Rooster by William Lipkind and Nicolas Mordvinoff.  It's from the 60's and out of print, but there are many used copies available online and hopefully some copies still in libraries.  Another good book we've read is Big Chickens Fly the Coop by Leslie Helakoski and illustrated by Henry Cole.  This one is in print and pretty easy to find.  We picked up our copy at the last Scholastic book sale for $2.50 at Ara's elementary school.  The girls love all things chickens and these books are filling them with excitement and inspiration!

Ara Wants Backyard Chickens!

This has been a constant and long-standing request: "Mama, I want baby chicks!"

Each time my daughter Ara asks for them, I cannot help but roll my eyes, thinking, "Fools rush in ...” The excitement at the idea of chicks crashes over her 5-and-a-half-year-old mind like an ocean wave. Her face lights up, she claps her hands excitedly and jumps up and down, imagining what it would be like to have the chicks.

Both she and her sister, Nora (2 1/2 years old), know it's chick time when we enter the post office in the spring: You can hear the young birds peeping in the mail room, waiting to be delivered to their homes. We've visited the baby chicks at the local Agway for a couple of years now. It's the only thing the girls want to see when we enter the store. They run quickly to the back of the store and beg for me to pick the peeping chicks up so they can take a look. I’ve stood strong and waited for more than a year, and Ara’s still pining for backyard chickens. Nora is pleased no matter what, but she is starting to want whatever her sister wants. Nora’s unconditionally willing to support her big sister's cause.

We took a field trip to our neighbor’s farm last summer and all Ara wanted to do was hold the poults (baby turkeys), as pictured above.

She intently checked out all the chicken coops as Derek and I inspected, too. Both of us were trying to get an idea for a coop that would work in our backyard. Our neighbors kindly offered to loan us an incubator so we could show the girls the entire process of raising chicks when spring rolls around.

It's obvious this is not just a momentary wish, but something Ara honestly wants. I'm hoping this will be an opportunity for her and her sister to learn more about responsibility and caring for another animal besides our cats, who couldn't care less about the girls most of the time. I'm a teacher at heart and love the idea of opening another awesome part of the world up to my girls. This indeed is a wonderful opportunity full of teachable moments. As well, we'll all enjoy the fresh eggs in the fridge. I'll also enjoy the chicken manure which, once aged, is wonderful for the garden. I'm an avid gardener and love growing veggies, perennial flowers, fruit-bearing trees and bushes with the entire family. It will be pretty neat having the hens around!

We've decided we want no more than four hens and two would even be fine for us. I've purchased some books on building coops, so our next step is to pick one that's right for us.

So for our next blog entry, the reading and planning begins for the coop! It is my intent to blog about our journey into "hendom" at least twice a month as we prepare for chickens in our backyard. I'll share the books we use and do my best to explain the highs and lows of raising backyard chickens. We live in rural Pennsylvania on almost four acres of land. So, join us on our journey into hendom!